Americans United - war on christmashttps://www.au.org/tags/war-christmas
enFake ‘War On Christmas’ May Have Spurred Trump’s Presidential Runhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/fake-war-on-christmas-may-have-spurred-trump-s-presidential-run
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Why did Donald Trump, a real estate mogul and reality TV star with no political experience, decide to run for president?</p>
<p>We have no shortage of theories. Some say Trump wanted free publicity to boost his sagging personal brand. Others assert it was all a stunt to launch a new cable TV channel. Still others insist Trump jumped in to shake things up and have a little fun, never expecting to actually win the Republican nomination.</p>
<p>Now Trump’s son Eric has put forth a new theory: His father was upset because the White House Christmas tree was renamed a “holiday tree.”</p>
<p>Buzzfeed’s Andrew Kaczynski <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/eric-trump-my-dad-ran-because-the-white-house-christmas-tree?utm_term=.oa47DAX1m#.aiqDLXGxa">reported last week</a> that Eric Trump told TV preacher James Robison recently that his father decided to get into the race because he doesn’t like where America’s culture is headed.</p>
<p>“He opens up the paper…and some new school district has just eliminated the ability for its students to say the Pledge of Allegiance or some fire department in some town is ordered by the mayor to no longer fly the American flag on the back of a fire truck,” <a href="https://stream.org/james-robison-interviews-eric-trump-pt-2/">EricTrump said</a>. “Or he sees the tree on the White House lawn has been renamed ‘holiday tree’ instead of ‘Christmas tree.’ I could go on and on for hours. Those are the very things that made my father run, and those are the very things he cares about.”</p>
<p>Now, Donald Trump has been courting the Religious Righty quite aggressively lately – he needs them because members of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/28/donald-trump-has-a-massive-catholic-problem/">other religious groups</a> aren’t with him – and this might just be another manifestation of that. Eric Trump might have been just telling Robison’s audience what it wants to hear.</p>
<p>But let’s assume for a moment that there’s some truth to Eric Trump’s claim. If so, it’s disturbing because it means Donald Trump decided to run for the highest office in the land on the basis of crazy stories <em>that aren’t true</em>.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/national%20xmas%20tree.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 534px;" /></p>
<p><em>Is this the Christmas tree that led Donald Trump to run for president? Possibly. </em></p>
<p>That’s right. They are not true. The National Christmas Tree was never renamed the “Holiday Tree.” <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/about/inside-white-house/holidays-2015">Here’s information</a> about the 2015 Christmas celebrations from the White House’s website. Note the headline: “President Obama Delivers Remarks at the Lighting of National Christmas Tree.”</p>
<p>Kooky right-wing emails began circulating during Obama’s presidency claiming that he had changed the name of the Christmas tree, but there’s no truth to the story. It was just another right-wing attack on the president.</p>
<p>Eric Trump’s claim about public schools banning the Pledge of Allegiance is also a crock. The U.S. Supreme Court <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/319/624">did rule</a> that public school students can’t be forced to recite the Pledge and salute the flag if they have a conscience-based objection to it. This is nothing new. That decision was handed down in <em>1943</em>. Public schools can still sponsor daily recitation of the Pledge, and most do – but they can’t compel participation. (Remarkably, some public school officials have yet to <a href="http://www.au.org/church-state/june-2015-church-state/featured/pledge-problems">get that message</a>.)</p>
<p>There are many reasons a person decides to run for president. He or she may not like the direction the economy is headed in or may believe that our foreign policy is a mess. A candidate may simply feel he/she has a vision for the country.</p>
<p>But if what Eric Trump says is true, we may be seeing a first in American politics: a candidate who was motivated to seek what many believe to be the most important job in the world on the basis of crank emails circulated by woefully misinformed followers of the Religious Right.</p>
<p> </p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/eric-trump">Eric Trump</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/war-christmas">war on christmas</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/barack-obama">Barack Obama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/white-house">White House</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/national-christmas-tree">national christmas tree</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/pledge-allegiance">Pledge of Allegiance</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/andrew-kaczynski">Andrew Kaczynski</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/james-robison">James Robison</a></span></div></div>Mon, 29 Aug 2016 14:27:36 +0000Rob Boston12291 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/fake-war-on-christmas-may-have-spurred-trump-s-presidential-run#commentsArk. County Pays Fees To Nativity Plaintiffshttps://www.au.org/church-state/april-2016-church-state/au-bulletin/ark-county-pays-fees-to-nativity-plaintiffs
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Baxter County, Ark., officials must pay more than $52,000 in legal fees to attorneys who challenged its refusal to allow a local humanist group to erect a holiday display.</p><p>U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks ruled that attorneys affiliated with the American Humanist Association (AHA) are entitled to the fees, reported the Northwest Arkansas <em>Democrat-Gazette</em>.</p><p>The AHA had represented a local tattoo artist, Dessa Blackthorn, who wished to add a “Happy Solstice” display to the Baxter County Courthouse’s Christian Nativity scene. County Judge Mickey Pendergrass rejected her proposal in 2013 and 2014.</p><p>Brooks ruled in her favor in November. The county must “create a public forum on the courthouse grounds for a seasonal display open to all faiths as well as of no faith at all, without discrimination on the basis of viewpoint,” he found.</p><p>Pendergrass subsequently announced that the county would no longer host a nativity display on public property. (<em>American Humanist Association and Dessa Blackthorn v. Baxter County, Arkansas and Mickey Pendergrass</em>)</p></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">AU Bulletin</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/government-sponsored-religious-displays">Government-Sponsored Religious Displays</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-11847" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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The <span class="cs-month field">April</span> <span class="cs-year field"><span class="date-display-single">2016</span></span> issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/american-humanist-association">American Humanist Association</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/holiday-displays">holiday displays</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/war-christmas">war on christmas</a></span></div></div>Fri, 01 Apr 2016 14:40:00 +0000Timothy Ritz11858 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/church-state/april-2016-church-state/au-bulletin/ark-county-pays-fees-to-nativity-plaintiffs#commentsLegal Lesson: Texas Lt. Gov. Is Clueless About American History And The First Amendmenthttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/legal-lesson-texas-lt-gov-is-clueless-about-american-history-and-the-first
<a href="/about/people/simon-brown">Simon Brown</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">At the close of his letter, Patrick attempted to outline all the great things he has done in defense of his idea of “religious liberty.” Spoiler: they’re not so great.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>It seems Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has a poor understanding of both American history and the First Amendment. So let’s take a few moments to educate him.</p><p>In <a href="http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/SanAntonioExpressNews/LandingPage/LandingPage.aspx?href=U0FFTi8yMDE2LzAxLzAy&amp;pageno=MTU.&amp;entity=QXIwMTUwMQ..&amp;view=ZW50aXR5">a recent viewpoint piece</a> published by the <em>San Antonio Express-News</em>, Patrick attempted to argue that religious freedom is under attack in the United States, which is contradictory to America’s “Christian nation” roots.</p><p>“Religious liberty is the underpinning of our nation and constitution, and the battle to protect that precious freedom should be fought just as strongly today as it was in 1776,” Patrick wrote.</p><p>No problem so far. But Patrick’s statements headed downhill pretty quickly from there as he went on to claim that the Founding Fathers were a bunch of ministers who created “a nation that was founded upon the Old &amp; New Testament.”</p><p>“It’s no wonder that nearly half of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence held seminary or Bible school degrees,” Patrick claimed.</p><p>Where in any of America’s early documents does it say that we were founded on the Bible? The answer is nowhere. And even if half of the signers of the Declaration did have religious training, so what? That does not prove they intended our nation to be officially Christian. Besides, the Declaration is not a governing document. It is essentially an announcement to the world that we were serious about separating from Great Britain. It’s an important historical document, but it doesn’t outline our form of government.</p><p>It’s telling that Patrick referenced the signers of the Declaration, rather than the Constitution, because he probably knows deep down that the Constitution is a secular document that established a secular government.</p><p>Patrick went on to complain about a bunch of supposed threats to “religious freedom” in Texas, including “challenges to our national motto, ‘In God We Trust,’ on police cars in Childress; city officials in Orange <a href="http://abc13.com/religion/city-nixes-nativity-scene-after-atheists-ask-to-display-sign/1123983/">removing a public Christmas nativity scene</a> out of litigation fears from a group of atheists or Beaumont city leaders <a href="http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Beaumont-PD-officers-say-city-nixed-lunch-hour-6707368.php">initially blocking police officers</a> from voluntarily participating in Bible studies during their lunch hour.”</p><p>When it comes to “In God We Trust,” it is our national motto, but it wasn’t given that status until the 1950s as a slap against “godless communism.” Other phrases that were actually used during the founding period, such as <em>E Pluribus Unum</em> (“Out Of Many, One”) and <em>Novus Ordo Seclorum</em> (“A New Order Of the Ages”) are secular.</p><p>As for Patrick’s “war on Christmas” story, we have <a href="https://au.org/church-state/december-2015-church-state/featured/bogus-battle">detailed at length</a> how the so-called “war” is a Religious Right construct intended to fuel “religious persecution” claims and make money. In this specific case, the Orange nativity scene stood on government property for decades. Last year, a group of atheists asked for equal time and sought to put up a sign next to the crèche. When city officials refused, the only option was to remove the nativity. So they did – in keeping with the requirements of the First Amendment.</p><p>The Bible-studying cops are permitted to hold study sessions in a police department conference room during their free time. Some officers were under the impression that they could not study the Bible at all on government property, but unsurprisingly Patrick misrepresented the situation. In what the city of Beaumont later called a “misunderstanding,” officers were informed they could not hold Bible study sessions in the more than 30 buildings and facilities owned by the city that are for business-use only. The officers interpreted this, wrongly, to mean they could not study religious texts anywhere during their breaks. The matter has been cleared up.</p><p>At the close of his letter, Patrick attempted to outline all the great things he has done in defense of his idea of “religious liberty.” Spoiler: they’re not so great.</p><p>“I took a stand to support religious freedoms on each of these issues and previously led the way to have ‘In God We Trust’ permanently placed in the [Texas] Senate chamber, added ‘Under God’ to our state pledge, co-authored the ‘<a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/freedom-from-foolishness-texas-gov-misconstrues-religious-liberty">Merry Christmas’ bill</a> to combat political correctness in our schools and established an annual Christmas Tree tradition in the Texas Senate for the first time in at least 70 years.”</p><p>All of those things represent government endorsements of belief over non-belief; almost all of them would be upsetting to the Founding Fathers, who took great pains to create a secular government. Each of these actions did nothing to enhance actual religious liberty in Texas. Instead, they pandered to the Religious Right and made non-believers and others feel like outsiders.</p><p>Patrick also said he “charged the Senate State Affairs Committee with the task of studying and recommending how the State of Texas should work to affirm the constitutionally guaranteed religious liberty protections of all Texans.”</p><p>Well, Mr. Patrick, that is an easy request. All the Senate has to do is nothing since the Constitution already guarantees tremendous religious freedom for all Americans. Of course if you had actually bothered to read the First Amendment you would already know that.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/history-and-origins-church-state-separation">History and Origins of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/texas-lt-gov-dan-patrick">Texas Lt. Gov Dan Patrick</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/war-christmas">war on christmas</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/declaration-of-independence">Declaration of Independence</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/founding-fathers">Founding Fathers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christian-nation-myth">Christian nation myth</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/god-we-trust">in god we trust</a></span></div></div>Tue, 05 Jan 2016 16:43:00 +0000Simon Brown11655 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/legal-lesson-texas-lt-gov-is-clueless-about-american-history-and-the-first#comments‘War’ Correspondence: Almost Half Of Americans Say They Prefer Secular Greetings Rather Than ‘Merry Christmas’https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/war-correspondence-almost-half-of-americans-say-they-prefer-secular
<a href="/about/people/simon-brown">Simon Brown</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Extreme fundamentalist groups want everyone to celebrate Christmas in a very narrow way and if they don’t, well, the Religious Right is going to be really mad about it.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>A new poll reveals that the Religious Right was correct all along about the “war on Christmas.”</p><p>Just kidding.</p><p>The far right <a href="https://au.org/church-state/december-2015-church-state/featured/bogus-battle">invented the “war” years ago</a> out of fears that the holiday was supposedly too secular or commercialized. And while larger numbers of Americans are celebrating Christmas without overt religious components, the vast majority still partake in some sort of sectarian activity as part of the holiday.</p><p>The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) recently analyzed <a href="http://publicreligion.org/2015/12/war-on-christmas-merry-christmas-vs-happy-holidays/#.VnApF7_z8w7">data collected in 2013</a> and found that 90 percent of Americans said they intended to celebrate Christmas. Of those who reported that they would observe the holiday, 42 percent said they would celebrate it in a “strongly religious way” and 31 percent said they would observe it in a “somewhat religious way.”</p><p>Additionally, 59 percent of Americans told PRRI they would go to church services on December 24 or 25, though that was down from 66 percent in 2010. And 49 percent of respondents said they believe the Christmas story as told in the Bible is historically accurate. </p><p>But the PRRI data also revealed something else: More and more Americans say they want tolerance during the holiday season. The poll found that 49 percent prefer retailers say “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” to their customers, while 43 percent said they want businesses to wish them “Merry Christmas.” In 2010, only 44 percent said they favored secular tidings while 49 percent wanted to be wished “Merry Christmas.”</p><p>Even half of Catholics said in 2013 that they would like a secular greeting from stores.</p><p>The only group polled that preferred “Merry Christmas” was white evangelical Protestants (62 percent).</p><p>In a sense, the Religious Right is losing its phony “war.” Groups like the American Family Association (AFA) that insist on being the “<a href="https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/who-s-been-naughty-who-s-been-nice-the-afa-explains-it-all-for-you">Christmas Police</a>” are obsessed with what sort of holiday greetings retail stores give to their customers – so much so that they produce an annual “Naughty or Nice” list on this very matter. Any business that dares show inclusion by saying “happy holidays” or the like lands on the “naughty” side.</p><p>Of course, the AFA’s perspective is out of touch with what about half of Americans want, which means the Religious Right is failing to bully people into doing things its way. You see, that’s what this “war on Christmas” is really about. Extreme fundamentalist groups like the AFA want everyone to celebrate Christmas in a very narrow way and if they don’t, well, the Religious Right is going to be really mad about it. </p><p>One of the wonderful things about America is that people have the right to celebrate Christmas any way they darn well please – or not at all. The Religious Right can’t stand that reality, so they keep trying to shame retailers and others into accepting a specific viewpoint.</p><p>Fortunately, the AFA and its allies are failing. In that sense, the “war on Christmas” is a losing battle. </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/war-christmas">war on christmas</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/american-family-association">American Family Association</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/naughty-or-nice">Naughty or Nice</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/happy-holidays">Happy Holidays</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/seasons-greetings">Season&#039;s Greetings</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/public-religion-research-institute">Public Religion Research Institute</a></span></div></div>Tue, 15 Dec 2015 17:15:00 +0000Simon Brown11603 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/war-correspondence-almost-half-of-americans-say-they-prefer-secular#commentsBogus Battlehttps://www.au.org/church-state/december-2015-church-state/featured/bogus-battle
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p align="JUSTIFY">Henry Ford, the famed industrialist and notorious anti-Semite, once pontificated that Jews were ruining Christmas.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“The whole record of the Jewish opposition to Christmas...shows the venom and directness of [their] attack,” Ford carped in an early 1920s work he titled <em>The International Jew: The World’s Foremost Problem</em>.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">The automaker went on to detail various localized Jewish “attacks” against the popular holiday.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“Christmas celebrations or carols in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, St. Paul and New York met with strong Jewish opposition,” he claimed. “Local Council of Jewish Women of Baltimore petitions school board to prohibit Christmas exercises” and “[a]t request of a rabbi, three principals of Roxbury, Mass., public schools agree[d] to banish Christmas tree and omit all references to the season from their schools.”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">So effective were these alleged Jewish actions against Christmas, Ford declared, that in one year “most people had a hard time finding Christmas cards that indicated in any way that Christmas commemorated Someone’s Birth.”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">It is striking how much Ford’s claims of Jewish efforts to undermine the celebration of Christmas nearly a century ago mirror modern Religious Right claims of a “war on Christmas.” While present-day fundamentalist zealots tend to blame atheists for what they believe is the gradual erosion of the religious aspects of Christmas, research shows that this “war” is not something that was cooked up by the Fox News Channel – though that is where the battles in this supposed conflict tend to play out today.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">While it is not known exactly who fired the first shot in the war – or when – it is clear that far-right Christians have long used this phony conflict as an opportunity to demonize their enemies and force their religious beliefs on others.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">When the Religious Right rants about the “war on Christmas” it is expressing fear that the holiday is becoming secularized, and no other single entity feeds far-right fantasies about this supposed “war” more than the Fox News Channel.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">An early Fox salvo occurred on Dec. 7, 2004, with a segment on “The O’Reilly Factor” called “Christmas Under Siege.” In a rant that will certainly live in infamy, host Bill O’Reilly said Christmas was threatened on multiple fronts.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“All over the country, Christmas is taking flak,” O’Reilly opined. “In Denver this past weekend, no religious floats were permitted in the holiday parade there. In New York City, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled the ‘holiday tree,’ and no Christian Christmas symbols are allowed in the public schools. Federated Department Stores – that’s Macy’s – have done away with the Christmas greeting ‘Merry Christmas.’”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">From that moment, O’Reilly positioned himself as something of a general in the fight to save Christmas from the evils of a pluralistic society. Year after year, O’Reilly made similar claims about the threats to Christian belief posed by the supposed “war.” Naturally, some of these scare stories fired up the Fox crowd – to the point of inspiring piles of angry mail and sometimes even vandalism.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">In 2008, O’Reilly went on a tirade over a private display put up at the Washington State Capitol asking that “reason prevail” during the “season of the Winter Solstice.” After O’Reilly’s segment aired, then-Gov. Christine Gregoire’s office said it received up to 200 vicious phone calls per hour. The sign was even stolen at one point and later found in a ditch. In 2012, O’Reilly attacked then-Gov. Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island because he had the audacity to refer to the official tree at the statehouse as a “holiday tree.”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“Mr. Chafee wants to ignore traditions of America and build a more inconclusive nation where Judeo-Christian philosophy is tamped down,” O’Reilly huffed. “That’s the big picture here. That’s the big picture, it’s what it’s all about. The secular progressives want a new America, and traditional Christmas isn’t a part of it.”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">When <em>New York Times </em>columnist Gail Collins dared write in 2013 that the so-called war is “imaginary,” O’Reilly fired back that Collins is in “denial.”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">After 10 years of fighting against so-called “secular progressives,” O’Reilly decided he had won the war – even though News Corp., the parent company of Fox News, referred to November/December as the “holiday season” in its August 2014 annual report.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“I won the ‘War on Christmas,” O’Reilly boasted on NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers” last December. “I’ve been doing this for about 10 years, and this is the only year we have not had a store that commanded its employees not to say ‘Merry Christmas.’ It’s over. We won.”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">The Religious Right, however, clearly does not agree with O’Reilly that the war is over. Perhaps the most maddening development in recent years as far as fundamentalist zealots are concerned is the growing tendency of retailers to eschew “Merry Christmas” in favor of “Happy Holidays.” In response to this supposed slight by corporations that are simply trying to be inclusive, the American Family Association (AFA) appointed itself the “Merry Christmas” police.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">AFA President Tim Wildmon claimed that as recently as 2005 the “Happy Holidays” epidemic was so rampant that 80 percent of retailers used generic messages in place of “Merry Christmas” purely out of a desire to be politically correct. (In reality, such accusations are not new. In his 1993 book <em>The Trouble With Christ­mas</em>, Tom Flynn wrote that some American retailers worked together after World War II on an initiative called “Put Christ Back In Christmas” amid complaints that the holiday had become overly commercial.)</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Since at least 2009, AFA, a Tupelo, Miss.,-based group best known for its vile anti-gay views, has annually produced a “Naughty-or-Nice” list documenting how often major retailers use the word “Christmas” in their stores or advertisements.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">The list, which is presumably compiled by employees who spend hours combing through ads, is broken into four categories: “5-star,” for companies that “promote and celebrate Christmas on an exceptional basis”; “nice” for those who use Christmas “on a regular basis”; “marginal” for corporations that “refer to Christmas infrequently, or in a single advertising medium, but not in others” and “naughty” for any organization that “may use ‘Christmas’ sparingly in a single or unique product description, but as a company, does not recognize it.”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Examples of “5-star” companies from 2014 include AFA’s own online store as well as Hobby Lobby, while a few that landed on the “naughty” side were Barnes &amp; Noble, Office Depot and Victoria’s Secret.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Any company that earns a “naughty” designation faces a potential boycott at the AFA’s behest, and despite the fringe nature of that group, corporations have been known to give into AFA’s demands. In 2013, clothing retailer Gap, Inc. agreed to swap “Happy Holidays” for “Merry Christmas” after several years on the “naughty” list.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“As a global retailer, we embrace the diversity of our customers and respect a variety of traditions and faith during the holidays, including Christmas,” Bill Chandler, a vice president at Gap, wrote at the time. “Starting today, every Gap Outlet window will have signs that say ‘Merry Christmas’ along with Christmas trees and wreaths throughout their stores.”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">As of 2014, Gap remained a “nice” company.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Although stories about the “war on Christmas” are perpetuated today primarily by Fox and AFA, the supposed war is much older than either organization would have you believe. The first combatants in the conflict were, in fact, a group of well-known Christians. The Puritans, America’s first fundamentalists, were deeply opposed to celebrating Christmas for a few reasons.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">For one, Christmas is not celebrated in the Bible, and many scholars point out that many of its features were adapted from Pagan holidays. For another, it was celebrated by the Church of England – an institution the Puritans rejected. And finally, the Puritans felt Christmas tended to be marked with merriment rather than piety.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">The Rev. Increase Mather, a prominent figure in early Massachusetts, wrote in 1687 of what he saw as the ills of Christmas.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“The generality of Christmas-keepers observe that Festival after such a manner as is highly dishonourable to the name of Christ,” Mather observed. “How few are there comparatively that spend those Holidays (as they are called) after an Holy manner. But they are consumed in Compotations, in Interludes, in playing at Cards, in Revellings, in excess of Wine, in mad Mirth; Will Christ the holy Son of God be pleased with such Services?”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Given the Puritan attitude toward the December 25 holiday, it’s no surprise that celebrating it was forbidden in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In fact, from 1659-1681 anyone found to be celebrating Christmas there was fined five shillings (about $40 today). Anyone who skipped work on Christmas risked being shunned.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Val Lauder, a former journalism professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and author of <em>The Back Page: The Personal Face of History</em>, wrote in a piece for CNN: “The Puritans were so vigilant, watchful for the slightest sign of ‘keeping Christmas,’ because they saw any breach as the first step toward falling back under the domination of the Church of England from which they’d fled. And anyone who ‘kept Christmas’ became an outcast, literally or figuratively.”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Such was the influence of the Puritans over New England that Christmas was just another day in that region long after Puritan control of Mas­sachusetts had ended. In a Dec. 25, 1856, journal entry, Henry Wads­worth Longfellow, author of <em>The Song of Hiawatha </em>and many other works, described the lingering attitudes of Bostonians when it came to celebrating Christmas.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“Not a very merry Christmas,” Longfellow penned. “We are in a transition state about Christmas here in New England. The old Puritan feeling prevents it from being a cheerful, hearty holiday, though every year makes it more so.”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">The change was gradual. Lauder noted that on Christmas Day in the 19th century, some Boston factories opened earlier than usual – 5 a.m. – to ensure that anyone who wanted to attend church services would have to choose between his religion and his livelihood. Those who chose church were usually fired if they came late to work, Lauder said. As for the Boston churches, even into the 1930s some shuttered on December 25.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Boston notwithstanding, American attitudes toward observing Christmas changed considerably during the 19th century. Southern states were the first to formally recognize the holiday. According to Penne L. Restad, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin, Virginia planters were among the earliest Americans to actually celebrate Christmas, using the day as a chance to “feast, dance, gamble, hunt and visit, perpetuating what they believed to be the old Christmas customs in English manors.”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Indeed, Virginian Thomas Jefferson documented his Christmas activities several times throughout his life. On Dec. 25, 1762, Jefferson wrote: Christmas was a “day of greatest mirth and jollity.” In 1779, Jefferson noted in his accounting book that he spent 48 shillings on Christmas presents. And on Dec. 25, 1809, Jefferson wrote about some of his favorite holiday foods.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“I will take the liberty of sending for some barrels of apples, and if a basket of them can now be sent by the bearer they will be acceptable as accommodated to the season of mince pies,” he noted.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Beginning in the 1830s, Southern states started marking Dec. 25 as an official holiday. Alabama was the first to do so, in 1836. Louisiana and Arkansas followed in 1838. Then in 1845, Connecticut became the first Northern state to recognize the holiday.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Thanks to a variety of factors – fallout from the Civil War, immigration from countries where Christmas was popular and even the publication of Charles Dickens’ <em>A Christmas Carol</em> – Christmas became increasingly popular throughout the rest of the country over the coming decades.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Still, the federal government was slow to warm to the holiday. Researchers discovered that Congress was officially in session on Christmas every year but three between 1789 and 1857, though the U.S. House of Representatives only met once during that period on Christmas Day (1797), as did the Senate (1802). Christmas did not become a federal holiday until 1870, and the Congressional Research Service reported that the request for acknowledgement of this holiday came not from clergy but from Washington, D.C., “bankers and business men.”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Notwithstanding some holdouts in New England, federal recognition of Christmas ensured that it would be widely observed throughout America by the beginning of the 20th century. Indeed, Restad said scholars estimate that by 1900, 20 percent of Americans had a Christmas tree in their homes. Just a few decades after Christmas become an official part of American life, people like Henry Ford began to complain that someone was ruining the holiday.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Ford blamed the Jews in the 1920s. In the 1950s, communism was the culprit.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“One of the techniques now being applied by the Reds to weaken the pillar of religion in our country is the drive to take Christ out of Christmas,” the radical anti-communist John Birch Society decried in a 1959 pamphlet called “There Goes Christmas?!” The group also made the rather vague claim that United Nations “fanatics” were out to “poison the 1959 Christmas season with their high-pressure propaganda.”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">By the 1970s, the “war on Christmas” was being recognized by some in the mainstream. In a January 1978 radio address, Ronald Reagan bemoaned U.S. Supreme Court decisions that, in his view, kicked religion out of public schools.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“Christmas can be celebrated in the school room with pine trees, tinsel and reindeers, but there must be no mention of the man whose birthday is being celebrated,” the future president remarked, according to <em>Reagan, In His Own Hand</em>. “One wonders how a teacher would answer if a student asked why it was called Christmas.”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">In the 1990s, the “war on Christmas” reached a wider audience thanks to the rise of the World Wide Web. Peter Brimelow, a radical American anti-immigration activist who was ironically born in England, launched a xenophobic organization called the Center for American Unity and a website, VDARE.com, in 1999.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Brimelow had some name recognition thanks to stints at <em>Forbes </em>magazine and the <em>National Review</em>, as well as his best-selling book <em>Alien Nation</em>.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">In the days before O’Reilly and Fox News latched onto the “war,” Brime­low led the fight against “secular progressives” who were allegedly out to destroy Christmas. <em>Time</em> magazine noted that Brimelow’s website exposed “offenders” in the “war on Christmas” from its beginning. The first culprit, in 1999, was the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development because it dared host a party called “A Celebration of Holiday Traditions.” In 2000, Amazon.com earned Brimelow’s ire for wishing its customers “Happy Holidays!” (In 2003, VDare, which was named for the first white child born in the New World, Virginia Dare, was labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its views.)</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Today, the chief perpetrator of the “war” myth remains Fox News – and it seems the annual seasonal scuffle came well before December this year. During a segment on the October 8 edition of “Fox &amp; Friends,” Heather Nauert griped about an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawsuit over a live nativity scene in an Indiana public school’s annual Christmas show.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“Well, it’s only October, but the war on Christmas is already in full swing,” Nauert carped. The ACLU asserted that the scene is coercive, a fact apparently lost on Nauert.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">In 2014, the flap started even earlier. In August of that year, Elizabeth Hasselbeck whined on “Fox &amp; Friends” about the controversy surrounding a nativity scene on government property in Belen, N.M.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“[T]he war on Christmas typically comes in the winter, near December, but this is coming a little bit early [because] this isn’t a seasonal issue – this nativity that comes up for Christmas. This has been part of… history there,” she said of the summer start to the winter war.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Even though the claims made on Fox are flimsy, the Religious Right believes the “war on Christmas” is real, and the network uses this phony fight as an excuse to attack public schools.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Fox gets a lot of help from Religious Right legal groups. In 2005, Liberty Counsel (LC), the group that is defending Rowan, County, Ky., Clerk Kim Davis, launched an all-out attack on the Dodgeville, Wisc., School District because Ridgeway Elementary School officials had allegedly secularized the lyrics to many religious songs, such as “Silent Night,” in school holiday programs.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">LC head Mat Staver, the Rev. Jerry Falwell and other Religious Right figures appeared numerous times on Fox News programs that year to spread far-fetched claims of an alleged attack on Christianity in America. In a Dec. 7 press release, Liberty Counsel accused Ridge­way Elementary of secularizing its holiday celebrations and said it had sent officials a letter demanding that the school fix its holiday programs or be prepared for potential litigation.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Liberty Counsel hadn’t told the whole story: The school was performing a play called “The Little Christmas Tree’s Gift,” which is about homelessness. The play uses the melodies of several familiar Christmas songs but with different lyrics to fit the theme. An attorney for the school district later asked LC for a formal apology as well as $23,899.48 in compensation for costs the district incurred in refuting the lies about their school. Of course, they didn’t get a dime.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Liberty Counsel is not alone in declaring war over Christmas. In 2006, the Arizona-based Religious Right legal group Alliance Defending Freedom boasted that it had more than 900 attorneys standing by to defend Christmas and, in a press statement, said it had mailed letters to more than 11,000 public schools nationwide, purporting to explain the law relating to Christmas celebrations in the schools.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“Of course it’s ridiculous that Americans have to think twice about whether it’s okay to say Merry Christmas,” ADF Senior Counsel Joe Infranco said in the statement. “It’s time to repair the damage organizations like the ACLU have done to America’s favorite holiday. It’s a sad day in this country when you have to retain an attorney to wish someone a Merry Christmas. And an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose censoring Christmas.”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Infranco did not specify where people had been ordered to stop saying “Merry Christmas,” and research by Americans United indicated that the ADF’s army of attorneys may have had little to do that year. A search of the comprehensive news database Nexis for ADF-sponsored Christ­mas lawsuits in 2006 returned no results. A search of the ADF’s site brought up two cases dealing with religious displays, one of which was later settled out of court.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Assailing public schools over their handling of Christmas has become a December tradition for the Religious Right and its allies in the right-wing media. In 2005, John Gibson, a former host at Fox News who functioned as a kind of poor man’s O’Reilly, flogged his book <em>The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought</em>. The tome was loaded with horror stories of alleged attacks on Christmas by public schools and other arms of government.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">On Dec. 21, 2005, AU’s Rob Boston appeared on Gibson’s show, “The Big Story,” to discuss the war on Christmas. Things got heated after Boston challenged the accuracy of some of Gibson’s claims. An angry Gibson cut off Boston’s microphone.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">That same year, Americans United issued a report examining several Religious Right claims about alleged attacks on Christmas in the public schools. The group found that in every case, the claims were either groundless, or important information had been omitted. For example, a public school in Texas was accused of ordering students not to wear red and green clothes during the month of December. When AU staffers called the school, officials said there was no such policy in place, but the school was getting so many calls on the matter it had to post a statement on its website debunking it.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Regardless of where you stand on the veracity of the “war,” the truth is that promoting it has become an industry in and of itself. AFA, for example, brought in more than half a million dollars selling buttons and magnets reading “Merry Christmas: It’s Worth Saying” in 2006. That same year, Liberty Counsel took in more than $300,000 hawking a “Help Save Christ­mas Action Pack,” and ADF sold a similar kit for $29 each.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Right-wing filmmakers have even taken to making cheap movies featuring no-name actors about the imaginary war. In 2011’s “Christmas with a Capital C,” a cranky attorney returns to his hometown in Alaska and files a lawsuit against a nativity scene on government property. He almost gets away with it until God-fearing residents stand up to him.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">2013 saw the release of “Beyond the Farthest Star,” focusing on an evangelical pastor who is outraged after a Democratic U.S. senator sets fire to his nativity scene.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Former child star Kirk Cameron appeared in a 2014 bomb titled “Saving Christmas,” in which he played a man striving to fend off the secularization of the holiday by telling his brother-in-law all about the biblical basis for the Christmas story. Critics have called it one of the worst films ever made, and the film aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes rates it a zero.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Religious Right activists have also released a spate of pro-Christmas books. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin got in on the act in 2013 with <em>Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas</em>. In the tome, which is widely acknowledged as ghost-written, Palin claimed Jefferson as a theological ally.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“He would recognize that, for the most part, these are angry atheists armed with an attorney,” Palin claimed. “They are not the majority of Americans.”</p><p align="JUSTIFY">While the “war” will likely never go away entirely because the Religious Right simply has too much invested in its “persecution” complex, the narrative may be beginning to crumble. In 2012 during a “Fox &amp; Friends” segment, the Rev. Jonathan Morris, a Roman Catholic priest who is a regular on the network, actually criticized Fox for making too much of the issue.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“If our Christmas is going to be all about getting upset at people trying to take away Christmas, isn’t that silly too?” Morris asked.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">He added later: “You guys look so angry about this ‘War on Christmas.’ I can tell.” </p><p align="JUSTIFY">Host Gretchen Carlson was beside herself.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">“We’re not nuts, are we? There is a war on Christmas!” she exclaimed.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">No, Gretchen, there isn’t a “war on Christmas.” There never was.</p></div></div><a href="/about/people/simon-brown">Simon Brown</a><h3 >Religious Right Claims Of A ‘War On Christmas’ Are Thinner Than Cheap Wrapping&nbsp;Paper</h3><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Featured</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-displays-and-holidays">Religious Displays and Holidays</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/other-government-subsidies-religious-institutions-not-including-schools">Other Government Subsidies of Religious Institutions</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/government-sponsored-religious-displays">Government-Sponsored Religious Displays</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-mottos-pledges-and-resolutions">Religious Mottos, Pledges and Resolutions</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/workplace-discrimination-exemptions-religious-practice">Discrimination, Exemptions &amp; Religious Practice in the Workplace</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/outside-workplace-discrimination-exemptions-religious-practice-including-military-prisons">Institutional Discrimination, Exemptions &amp; Religious Practice (Including Military, Prisons &amp; Healthcare)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/history-and-origins-church-state-separation">History and Origins of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-11564" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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<h2><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state">
The <span class="cs-month field">December</span> <span class="cs-year field"><span class="date-display-single">2015</span></span> issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/featured/failed-experiment">Failed Experiment</a></h3>
<h4>Despite Sketchy Schools And Disappointing Results, Washington, D.C.’s Private School Voucher Plan Continues To Stumble Along</h4> </div>
<div class="views-row views-row-2 views-row-even">
<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/featured/bogus-battle">Bogus Battle</a></h3>
<h4>Religious Right Claims Of A ‘War On Christmas’ Are Thinner Than Cheap Wrapping Paper</h4> </div>
<div class="views-row views-row-3 views-row-odd">
<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/featured/access-denied">Access Denied</a></h3>
<h4>Prodded By Religious Right Extremists, State Officials Are Increasingly Decimating Reproductive Care Options For Women</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/featured/au-in-action">AU in Action</a></h3>
<h4>Staff Members And Activists Support Church-State Separation</h4> </div>
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<div class="cs-department" id="section-au-bulletin"> <h3>AU Bulletin</h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/pa-amish-man-challenges-gun-id-requirement">Pa. Amish Man Challenges Gun I.D. Requirement</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/wisc-voucher-program-may-lead-to-tax-hike">Wisc. Voucher Program May Lead To Tax Hike</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/around-the-world-secular-publishers-attacked-in">Around The World: Secular Publishers Attacked In Bangladesh</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/supreme-court-won-t-hear-challenge-to">Supreme Court Won’t Hear Challenge To Vaccination Law</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/court-rules-boston-archdiocese-may-close-church">Court Rules Boston Archdiocese May Close Church</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/wash-high-school-coach-claims-god-approves">Wash. High School Coach Claims God Approves Prayers</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/anti-discrimination-measure-defeated-in-houston">Anti-Discrimination Measure Defeated In Houston</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-people--events"> <h3>People &amp; Events</h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/people-events/dc-church-claims-bike-lane-would-violate">D.C. Church Claims Bike Lane Would Violate Religious Freedom</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/people-events/federal-appeals-court-reinstates-case">Federal Appeals Court Reinstates Case Challenging Surveillance Of Muslims </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/people-events/ore-faith-healing-couple-is-convicted-in-child">Ore. Faith-Healing Couple Is Convicted In Child’s Death</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/people-events/maine-education-official-under-fire-for-past">Maine Education Official Under Fire For Past Pro-Creationism Remarks</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/people-events/au-s-efforts-to-intervene-in-ark-park-case">AU’s Efforts To Intervene In ‘Ark Park’ Case Denied By Court</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/people-events/au-tells-utah-university-to-end-classes-in-lds">AU Tells Utah University To End Classes In LDS Faith</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/people-events/chastity-expert-invited-to-speak-to-students">‘Chastity’ Expert Invited To Speak To Students In El Paso Public Schools</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/people-events/iowa-town-officials-vote-to-remove-cross-from">Iowa Town Officials Vote To Remove Cross From Park</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/viewpoint/holy-hypocrites-the-false-piety-of-public-prayer">Holy Hypocrites: The False Piety Of Public Prayer</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-perspective"> <h3>Perspective</h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/perspective/buzzed-over-coffee-cup-flap-an-opening-shot-from">Buzzed Over Coffee: Cup Flap An Opening Shot From The Religious Right</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-editorial"> <h3>Editorial</h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/editorial/science-lesson-celebrating-10-years-of-the-dover">Science Lesson: Celebrating 10 Years Of The Dover Decision</a></span> </div></li>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/war-christmas">war on christmas</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bill-oreilly">Bill O&#039;Reilly</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/kirk-cameron">Kirk Cameron</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/fox-news">Fox News</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sarah-palin">sarah palin</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/nativity-scene">Nativity scene</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alliance-defending-freedom">Alliance Defending Freedom</a></span></div></div>Tue, 01 Dec 2015 13:00:00 +0000Timothy Ritz11566 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/church-state/december-2015-church-state/featured/bogus-battle#commentsBuzzed Over Coffee: Cup Flap An Opening Shot From The Religious Righthttps://www.au.org/church-state/december-2015-church-state/perspective/buzzed-over-coffee-cup-flap-an-opening-shot-from
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>On my way to board a plane for a recent West Coast visit, I stopped at a Starbucks for a very late lunch. This was just one day after the story broke about the coffee giant’s shocking decision to alter its cups during the holiday season.</p><p>Starbucks cups in previous Novembers and Decembers were red but included snowflakes, reindeers and ornaments. Now they are just red, sans any symbols. This has annoyed some Religious Right activists – “war on Christmas,” you see.</p><p>Now, some of you may not know this, but these supposedly secular items figure prominently in the traditional Christmas story. Think of it: Technically, the shepherds were watching over flocks of sheep, but reindeer are hoofed animals too so close enough. Ornaments were frequently referred to (I’m pretty sure) as gold, frankincense and myrrh. And of course, despite the views of some dissenting biblical scholars, we know that Jesus was born in the winter – why else would Congress have made Christmas a federal holiday in 1870? – so we might as well assume there were snowflakes wafting through the atmosphere.</p><p>I’m being facetious, of course. Still, the plain red cups are making the Religious Right see, well, red. (Although, to my knowledge, no one has accused Starbucks of going communist. Maybe somebody should.)</p><p>Here’s what I noticed, though: There are still blends of coffee at each Starbucks, a light brew, one dark version and a “specialty” flavor: “Christmas blend.” That’s right – no “holiday blend,” no solstice, Ramadan or Hanukah blend. So, it looks like Starbucks is just easing into this war on Christmas thing one step at a time.</p><p>A lot of groups and columnists had fun with this silly controversy. But a presidential candidate – who shall remain anonymous although his name rhymes with “lump” (as in coal) – gravely informed the nation that if he’s elected, you’re going to hear a lot more people saying “Merry Christmas.” It’s unclear to me how this would happen. Perhaps the creation of a nationwide “Christmas police” staking out the local T.J. Maxx?</p><p>The Starbuck flap was not the only case of Religious Right minions attacking a retailer recently. The popular line of dolls called American Girl also came under fire.</p><p>The dolls, made by Mattel, have a magazine tie-in called <em>American Girl</em>. This publication ran a story about a young girl in foster care who was adopted by a same-sex couple in Maryland.</p><p>You can guess what happened next. One Million Moms, a front group for the American Family Association that does not have one million members and that includes people who are not moms, went ballistic. <em>American Girl</em>, you see, was taking sides in the “culture war.” (And here I thought it was just conveying a heart-warming tale about how a little girl found a loving home.)</p><p>It’s an old story. These groups fear anything new or different, and they have so little faith in their own ability to transmit their “values” that they expect faceless corporate giants to do the job for them.</p><p>I have to sigh when I hear these tantalizing tales of Religious Right retailer rage, but I also take a minute to remind myself that they are just one element in a much larger theocratic narrative. It’s easy to poke fun at someone who gets angry over the color of a coffee cup. But even as we joke about it, let’s not forget that a lot of what the Religious Right says and does isn’t at all funny.</p><p>As the Starbucks and American Girl imbroglios were playing out, I was writing a short speech for an appearance before the Feminist Majority Foundation’s “Women, Money, Power Summit” in Washington, D.C. Days after that event, Eleanor Smeal, president of the group, invited me to blog for their site about a recent forum sponsored by Kevin Swanson, an extreme Colorado pastor, that attracted three Republican presidential candidates.</p><p>During the event, Swanson ranted about LGBTQ Americans, saying that the Bible calls for their deaths. Swanson added that if his son married another man, “I’d sit in cow manure, and I’d spread it all over my body. That is what I would do, and I’m not kidding. I’m not laughing.”</p><p>The three candidates – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee – weren’t laughing either. And they didn’t challenge any of the hateful poison that poured out of Swanson’s mouth.</p><p>During my West Coast swing, I visited an Americans United supporter near San Francisco. On the way there, I passed by a Peet’s Coffee and Tea shop. I couldn’t help but sneak a look at their cups. They feature wintry symbols, but the store sells a “holiday blend.”</p><p>What is the Religious Right to do with that? Beats me, but I do know this: Long after this holiday time passes, aggressive Religious Right groups will still be trying to use their narrow and exclusionary dogmas to run our lives. The dolls girls play with and the coffee cups we drink from are just the beginning. They won’t stop there.</p><p>That is a strong – and sobering – drink for this holiday season.</p><p> </p><p><em>The Rev. Barry W. Lynn is executive director of American United for Separation of Church and State. </em></p><p> </p></div></div><a href="/about/people/barry-w-lynn">Barry W. Lynn</a><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Perspective</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-11564" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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<h2><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state">
The <span class="cs-month field">December</span> <span class="cs-year field"><span class="date-display-single">2015</span></span> issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/featured/failed-experiment">Failed Experiment</a></h3>
<h4>Despite Sketchy Schools And Disappointing Results, Washington, D.C.’s Private School Voucher Plan Continues To Stumble Along</h4> </div>
<div class="views-row views-row-2 views-row-even">
<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/featured/bogus-battle">Bogus Battle</a></h3>
<h4>Religious Right Claims Of A ‘War On Christmas’ Are Thinner Than Cheap Wrapping Paper</h4> </div>
<div class="views-row views-row-3 views-row-odd">
<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/featured/access-denied">Access Denied</a></h3>
<h4>Prodded By Religious Right Extremists, State Officials Are Increasingly Decimating Reproductive Care Options For Women</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/featured/au-in-action">AU in Action</a></h3>
<h4>Staff Members And Activists Support Church-State Separation</h4> </div>
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<div class="cs-department" id="section-au-bulletin"> <h3>AU Bulletin</h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/pa-amish-man-challenges-gun-id-requirement">Pa. Amish Man Challenges Gun I.D. Requirement</a></span> </div></li>
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<li class="views-row views-row-5 views-row-odd">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/supreme-court-won-t-hear-challenge-to">Supreme Court Won’t Hear Challenge To Vaccination Law</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/wash-high-school-coach-claims-god-approves">Wash. High School Coach Claims God Approves Prayers</a></span> </div></li>
<li class="views-row views-row-8 views-row-even views-row-last">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/december-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/anti-discrimination-measure-defeated-in-houston">Anti-Discrimination Measure Defeated In Houston</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-people--events"> <h3>People &amp; Events</h3>
<ul class="cs-department-list"> <li class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first">
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</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-editorial"> <h3>Editorial</h3>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/war-christmas">war on christmas</a></span></div></div>Tue, 01 Dec 2015 13:00:00 +0000Timothy Ritz11570 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/church-state/december-2015-church-state/perspective/buzzed-over-coffee-cup-flap-an-opening-shot-from#commentsWho’s Been Naughty, Who’s Been Nice?: The AFA Explains It All For Youhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/who-s-been-naughty-who-s-been-nice-the-afa-explains-it-all-for-you
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The &quot;Christmas Police&quot; at the American Family Association are at it again. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>If you’re like me, you’ve been sitting around anxiously awaiting the release of the American Family Association’s <a href="http://afa.net/christmaslist">“Naughty or Nice” list</a> of retailers for the 2015 holiday season.</p><p>Just kidding. I haven’t been awaiting the release of this list – and I suspect you haven’t either – but the AFA sent it to me earlier this week, so let’s take a look at it, shall we?</p><p>If you’re just joining us, the AFA, a large Religious Right outfit based in Tupelo, Miss., convenes every year about this time and pores over ads issued by big box stores, faceless corporations, restaurant chains, etc. looking for something to get offended over. Failure to use the word “Christmas” in ads is sure to unleash a torrent of whining from the AFA’s legions of fundamentalist Christmas crusaders.</p><p>The group releases this list every year because the AFA is – how shall I put this nicely? – just a tad obsessive-compulsive about ensuring that everyone uses the proper, Poinsettia-correct terminology during the popular December holiday.</p><p>I’ve taken to calling them the “Christmas Police.” And I’ve wondered exactly how the AFA executes this project. I mean, do people really spend hours scrutinizing ads, cruising websites and visiting stores to examine the language and the decorations used?</p><p>Apparently so. This year the AFA provided some details: “AFA reviewed up to four areas to determine if a company was ‘Christmas-friendly’ in their advertising: print media (newspaper inserts), broadcast media (radio/television), website and/or personal visits to the store. If a company’s ad has references to items associated with Christmas (trees, wreaths, lights, etc.), it was considered as an attempt to reach ‘Christmas’ shoppers.”</p><p>Talk about a lousy seasonal job! Imagine being at a social function and asking another guest what he or she does. Comes the answer: “Well, I go to Ross Dress for Less and examine the holiday decorations and then send a detailed report back to a bunch of people in Tupelo who obviously have way too much time on their hands.”</p><p>Honestly, I’d rather work in a fruitcake factory.</p><p>And here’s the thing I don’t get: All that matters, it seems, is if a stores uses the proper terminology (use of the word “Christmas”) and decorations as determined by the Christmas Police. So the owner of Larry’s 24-Hour Porn Emporium can hang up a wreath with a ribbon on it – a symbol that has nothing to do with the religious aspects of Christmas, by the way – toss in a sign reading “Merry Christmas” and by the AFA’s metric that rates better than a store that sells Bibles and religious goods but has erected a “Happy Holidays” sign.</p><p>That’s good to know.</p><p>But let’s get to the meat of things. If you’re a neurotic fundamentalist Christian who follows the AFA slavishly, here’s where you can shop or eat for the rest of the year: Cracker Barrel, Hobby Lobby, Lowe’s, Michael’s and Wal-Mart. All of those firms got five-star ratings, the AFA’s highest honor.</p><p>Forty-seven companies got “nice” ratings, which means the AFA has determined that they used the word “Christmas” enough times to satisfy the Christmas Police. This list includes Amazon, Bass Pro Shops, Bed Bath &amp; Beyond, Home Depot, J. C. Penney, Kmart, Pier One Imports, Target and TJ Maxx.</p><p>But things go downhill from there. The “marginal” list consists of 13 companies that use “Christmas” occasionally but not nearly enough to keep the Christmas Police happy. Firms here include Best Buy, CVS, Safeway and Starbucks. (Sure, first that <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/09/starbucks-holiday-red-cup-brews-controversy-on-social-media.html">red cup</a>, now this!)</p><p>Then we hit the real dregs. Twelve retailers committed the horrible crime of using the word “Christmas” but only “sparingly in a single or unique product description.” These companies, we are told, generally “do not recognize it.”</p><p>I’m going to list all 12 because if you’re like me, you’ll want to do most of your shopping here just to annoy the AFA: Barnes &amp; Noble, Family Dollar, Foot Locker, The Limited, Maurice’s, Office Depot, Office Max, PetSmart, Staples, Stein Mart, Supervalu and Victoria’s Secret. (Victoria’s Secret is on the “naughty” list! Why am I not surprised?)</p><p>Despite these slackers, Tim Wildmon, president of the AFA, said in a press release that the “war on Christmas” is pretty much over and that his side won.</p><p>“This battle has very nearly been won,” Wildmon said. “Let’s politely remind the handful of companies on the ‘Naughty’ list that there’s nothing wrong with the word ‘Christmas.’ Maybe next year we can retire the Naughty or Nice list altogether.”</p><p>Fat chance! The fake war on Christmas has been much too lucrative for the Religious Right. I don’t think they’ll shut it down. They <a href="http://www.afa.net/the-stand/the-culture-war/how-are-you-using-your-christmas-buttons/">make money</a> selling pro-Christmas tchotchkes, and of course what would the Fox News Chanel do if the war on Christmas ended? </p><p>I have fun with the uptight gang at the AFA during the holiday season, but I have to admit there are times when I’d like to bring the whole fake “war” crashing down. There is one way to do that. It’s extreme, but it may be time.</p><p>That’s right: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/22/world/europe/krampus-he-sees-you-when-youre-sleeping-and-gives-you-nightmares.html?_r=0">Summon Krampus</a> and hand him a map of Mississippi.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/american-family-association">American Family Association</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/amazon">Amazon</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/target">Target</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/victorias-secret">Victoria&#039;s Secret</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/krampus">Krampus</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/hobby-lobby">Hobby Lobby</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/cvs">CVS</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/starbucks">Starbucks</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/home-depot">Home Depot</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tim-wildmon">Tim Wildmon</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christmas">Christmas</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/war-christmas">war on christmas</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/stein-mart">Stein Mart</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/petsmart">Petsmart</a></span></div></div>Fri, 20 Nov 2015 14:48:31 +0000Rob Boston11553 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/who-s-been-naughty-who-s-been-nice-the-afa-explains-it-all-for-you#commentsWar On Starbucks?: Religious Right Miffed About Coffee Giant’s Seasonal Cupshttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/war-on-starbucks-religious-right-miffed-about-coffee-giant-s-seasonal-cups
<a href="/about/people/simon-brown">Simon Brown</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Trouble may be brewing at Starbucks, where <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/the-phony-war-on-christmas-is-back-fueled-by-those-alleged-jesus-haters-at-starbucks/2015/11/09/ed8471de-86f7-11e5-9a07-453018f9a0ec_story.html">a cup controversy</a> has the Religious Right boiling over.</p><p>The omnipresent coffee retailer recently unveiled its seasonal coffee containers, which feature <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/10/business/starbuckss-red-holiday-cups-inspire-outcry-online.html?_r=0">a cleaner design</a> than previous years: They’re simply red with the Starbucks logo. Past cups have included <a href="https://brandeblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/starbucks-cups-by-liam-gladdy.jpg">generic winter symbols</a> like snowmen, reindeer, snowflakes and <a href="http://www.restaurants.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/starbucks__cup.jpg">tree ornaments</a>. You’ll notice that these designs from holiday seasons past have something in common: They feature secular symbols exclusively.</p><p>For some reason, the Religious Right is ticked off that Starbucks didn’t include religious symbols on its cups this year, even though the Seattle-based corporation has never done so before. The apparent source of this rage against the cups stems from a video posted by a right-wing prevaricator named Joshua Feuerstein, who is a Christian evangelist and self-proclaimed internet personality with more than 1.8 million Facebook followers. (He also likes to perpetuate <a href="http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/that_starbucks_hates_jesus_pastor_was_just_on_cnn_it_didn_t_go_well">the tired lie that President Barack Obama is not Christian</a>).</p><p>In a video rant that went viral last week, Feuerstein held up one of the new Starbuck’s cups and complained that “Starbucks wanted to take Christ and Christmas off of their brand-new cups, that’s why they’re just plain red.”</p><p>Feuerstein, in what may turn out to be the least effective boycott ever, encouraged his followers to order a drink at Starbucks under the name “Merry Christmas,” so that when their order is ready a Starbucks employee will be “forced” to say that greeting. The horror!</p><p>And so begins another battle in the Religious Right’s phony claims of a “war on Christmas.” Feuerstein’s allies took to social media to vent their anger, with thousands of people saying things like, “Starbucks is against our military and apparently against our Lord. I won’t purchase anything Starbucks.” Said a Facebook user: “Starbucks is not a Christian company.”</p><p>Never one to miss a chance to make a headline, Donald Trump <a href="http://nypost.com/2015/11/10/trump-suggests-starbucks-boycott-over-red-cups/">spoke out about this</a> from the campaign trail, calling on his followers to boycott Starbucks. He also added that if he is elected president “we’re all going to be saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again. That I can tell you.”</p><p>(Exactly how Trump intends to enforce that is unknown, since it would be unconstitutional for a president to require anyone to say a particular greeting, let alone a religious one).</p><p>And of course the Fox News Channel had to get in on the act, since it has <a href="https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/tis-the-season-to-tell-big-honking-lies-more-war-on-christmas-calumny-from">long been ground zero for reporting</a> on the “war.” Radio correspondent Todd Starnes <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/11/09/its-starbucks-coffee-cup-america-not-holy-grail.html">slammed Starbucks</a>, writing that the corporation “doesn’t have any idea who the reason for the season is in the first place.” But in a rare embrace of lucidity, even Starnes admitted that this brouhaha is a bit over the top.</p><p>“I’ll probably be fielding some angry emails about my take on the Starbucks controversy -- but should we really expect a secular company to embrace Christianity?” he asked.</p><p>Even celebrities weighed in. In what will surely go down as ill advised, Rob Lowe tweeted: “Between their program to have baristas lecture me about race and now their removal of ‘Merry Christmas’ I’m officially over @Starbucks #done.”</p><p>In response, a Starbucks official clarified that the coffee chain “has become a place of sanctuary during the holidays. We’re embracing the simplicity and the quietness of it.” </p><p>If this faux fight over coffee cups is all the Religious Right has left, it has just about spent its ammo in the “war on Christmas.” Even Fox seems lackluster, at best, in this instance.</p><p>The key to this whole silly controversy is the fact that nothing really changed at Starbucks this year. After all, the retailer has never put Jesus or a nativity scene on its cups. All the symbols it used in the past were secular. And if the Religious Right were honest, it would admit the 2015 cups give a nod toward Christmas with their red and green color scheme. Plus, Starbucks even has a seasonal coffee called “Christmas Blend.”</p><p>This just goes to show that far-right fundamentalists will look for any opportunity to do two things: force their beliefs on others and claim that they are under attack. These religious zealots are trying to shame a major U.S. corporation into promoting Christmas. If that doesn’t happen they can just claim that their beliefs are being “threatened” somehow.</p><p>The cup controversy looks like a win-win for the Religious Right, but it doesn’t have to be. If people are willing to point out how absolutely ridiculous it is for anyone to be upset about the design of a disposable coffee cup, the “war on Christmas” will be further marginalized to the point of obscurity.</p><p>P.S. I’ve just finished writing a story about the history of the “war on Christmas.” Look for it in the upcoming December issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/starbucks">Starbucks</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/fox-news">Fox News</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/todd-starnes">Todd Starnes</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/war-christmas">war on christmas</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/joshua-feuerstein">Joshua Feuerstein</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/merry-christmas">Merry Christmas</a></span></div></div>Tue, 10 Nov 2015 17:03:58 +0000Simon Brown11535 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/war-on-starbucks-religious-right-miffed-about-coffee-giant-s-seasonal-cups#commentsVenal Vandalhttps://www.au.org/church-state/february-2015-church-state/featured/venal-vandal
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Susan Hemeryck strolled into the rotunda of the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee Dec. 23 with a specific goal in mind: to destroy a religious display she didn’t like.</p><p>The target of Hemeryck’s wrath was a diorama erected by the Satanic Temple. The humanistic group, back­ed with legal firepower from Amer­icans United for Separation of Church and State, sought and won permission to display at the rotunda a depiction of an angel falling into a pit of fire.</p><p>This was possible because the rotunda was declared a free-speech zone a few years ago. In December, a Christian group displays a nativity scene, a Jewish organization erects a menorah and atheist groups display signs bearing freethought messages.</p><p>Other displays included a “Festivus” pole – a reference to a fictional holiday made famous by the “Seinfeld” sitcom – and a depiction of the “Flying Spaghetti Monster,” a deity much be­loved by adherents of a parody religion.</p><p>In 2013, members of the Satanic Temple sought space for their display as well. The Temple, which is essentially atheistic in outlook, views Satan as a metaphor for anyone who questions religious dogma. Their angel-and-flames diorama includes Bible verses and holiday greetings from the Temple.</p><p>For Florida officials, this was too much. They denied the Temple access to the rotunda just days before Christmas in 2013, calling the Temple’s display “grossly offensive.”</p><p>In 2014, Temple members regrouped. They filed a request for space months before Christmas, and they reached out to Americans United for legal assistance.</p><p>AU attorneys were quick to point out to officials at the Florida Department of Management Services that they didn’t have a legal leg to stand on.</p><p>“Members of the religious majority are sometimes offended by the beliefs of religious minorities, and vice/ ­versa,” AU wrote to department officials in October. “But the Satanic Temple is not required to censor itself in order to take advantage of a forum supposedly open to all.”</p><p>AU’s letter asserted that the state, by excluding the Temple’s message from an open forum, had violated the free-speech rights of the Temple, its freedom of religion and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. AU made it clear that it was willing to take the matter to court.</p><p>In early December, department officials caved and informed Temple members that their diorama could be displayed Dec. 22-29. The diorama was duly erected on Dec. 22, and all was well – for one day at least.</p><p>Americans United and Temple members expected the display to be controversial. Indeed, it sparked a huge amount of stories in the news media, on blogs and on social media sites.</p><p>But AU also believed that the Capitol rotunda, which is routinely patrolled by police officers, would be an unlikely place for a vandal to strike. That view proved to be too optimistic.</p><p>Hemeryck, who was wearing a t-shirt with the words “Catholic Warrior” on it, entered the rotunda late in the morning of Dec. 23, calmly approached the Temple’s display and began tearing it down.</p><p>She was immediately challenged by two officers with the Florida Capitol Police and ordered to stop. According to various media accounts, Hemeryck said she was “sorry and had to take down the Satanic display” because it was “not right.”</p><p>In the Temple’s display, an angel was suspended over the flames with a piece of fishing line. Hemeryck seized the figure and yanked it free before police could restrain her.</p><p>She later boasted about her actions.</p><p>“I just yanked that little devil off the fishing line,” Hemeryck told the Associated Press (AP). “I should have just done a better job and finished it off for good.”</p><p>Hemeryck, who was identified in some media accounts as a Tea Party activist, also said, “It’s just wrong, when you remove baby Jesus two days before Christmas and put Satan in his place. That just can’t happen. I couldn’t allow it to happen. I was there at the right time and the right moment and I needed to take a stand against Satan.”</p><p>Hemeryck apparently didn’t understand that the “baby Jesus” had not been removed from the Capitol. In fact, a local woman named Pam Olsen was overseeing a crèche display in the rotunda.</p><p>Olsen admitted that she’s no fan of the Satanic Temple’s display, but she also made it clear that she didn’t support what Hemeryck did.</p><p>“I’m actually very sad that she felt motivated to do that,” Olsen told reporters. “I do not like the display. I think it’s rude and it’s sad that he put it up to protest the nativity that means so much to millions of people; however I don’t think anyone should ever vandalize anything. Free speech is free speech whether we like it or not.”</p><p>Hemeryck, 54, was arrested and charged with criminal mischief. She has no prior criminal record and was released without bail.</p><p>As they examined the damaged diorama, Temple members pondered what to do. John Porgal, a Temple rep­re­sentative, told the AP that he originally considered leaving the dam­aged display up “as a sign of what the Religious Right’s idea of tolerance is.”</p><p>Porgal later decided to reassemble the diorama but with one change: As a result of the damage, the angel, instead of being suspended above the flames, had to be left standing in them.</p><p>In a blog post, Lucien Greaves, a spokesman for the Satanic Temple, condemned the vandalism.</p><p>“The assault on our display, if thought to be done in favor of a Christian viewpoint, is more appropriately viewed as an assault upon religious plu­ralism and a rejection of Government viewpoint neutrality,” Greaves wrote. “It is a rejection of American con­stitutional values held dear by a large number of self-identified Christians – many of whom express support for The Satanic Temple’s right to religi­ous freedom. It is time that the fundamentalists and religious radicals realize that they are the belligerent few, and we, who uphold the virtue of pluralism, whatever our religious affiliations (or lack thereof), will not be silenced.”</p><p>Americans United also criticized the attack and called for Hemeryck to be punished.</p><p>“This act of mindless vandalism should be condemned by all decent people and all those who support true freedom of religion,” observed AU. “It’s important to remember that free speech in an open forum is for all groups, even those whose message some deem controversial or unpopular.”</p><p>Continued the statement, “Our attorneys fought hard for our clients to win the right to display their diorama in the Capitol Rotunda, and we don’t intend to buckle under to this type of senseless destruction. We hope the display is quickly reassembled, and we call on authorities in Florida to prosecute the vandal to the full extent of the law.” </p><p>Not everyone saw it that way. The website Catholic Online referred to Hemeryck as a “hero” and asserted, “While we do not condone vandalism of any sort, it is easy to understand why Hemeryck was upset. Christmas is a distinctly Christian holiday. Han­ukkah also occurs in the same season. However, atheists have no religion, and Satanists have no reason to celebrate the birth of Christ. So their displays are publicity stunts intended to subtract, in a meaningful way, from the real meaning of the season.”</p><p>If Hemeryck hoped to suppress the display’s message, her attack backfired badly. The act of vandalism was widely reported in Florida and national media, leading the Temple and Americans United to receive a torrent of attention. Dozens of stories ran, and the fuss was prominently featured by popular websites like Raw Story. Traditional media outlets like <em>The Washington Post</em>, Bloomberg News, United Press International and others also ran stories. The Associated Press story on the vandalism appeared in newspapers all over the country and even received international attention. Many people posted the stories to social media sites and sent tweets about the incident.</p><p>Some people visited the Capitol rotunda to see what all of the fuss was about. <em>The Wall Street Journal</em>, for example, ran a photo of several young children crowded around the display.</p><p>Americans United also used the controversy as a teachable moment. AU pointed out that government officials are not required to allow religious displays in public spaces. But if they choose to do so, AU noted, they may not ban some displays simply because they are deemed controversial or offensive.</p><p>“The incident in Florida is a good reminder of what can happen when government decides to get into the business of facilitating religious displays,” said Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “When the state opens up a forum for free speech, all groups must be given access – and that includes those that some people may consider unpopular or controversial.” </p></div></div><a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><h3 >Fla. Tea Partier And &#039;Catholic Warrior&#039; Attacks Religious Display At State Capitol&nbsp;Building</h3><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Featured</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/government-sponsored-religious-displays">Government-Sponsored Religious Displays</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-10837" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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<h2><a href="/church-state/february-2015-church-state">
The <span class="cs-month field">February</span> <span class="cs-year field"><span class="date-display-single">2015</span></span> issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/february-2015-church-state/featured/venal-vandal">Venal Vandal</a></h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/february-2015-church-state/people-events/mich-town-officials-vote-to-stop-displaying">Mich. Town Officials Vote To Stop Displaying Cross After AU Intervention</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/february-2015-church-state/people-events/au-warns-la-governor-over-plans-to-host">AU Warns La. Governor Over Plans To Host Official Prayer Rally </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/february-2015-church-state/editorial/politicians-at-prayer-their-goal-is-usually">Politicians At Prayer: Their Goal Is Usually Winning Votes, Not Souls </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/february-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/senate-confirms-religious-freedom-ambassador">Senate Confirms Religious Freedom Ambassador</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/february-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/sc-legislature-considers-several-troubling-bills">S.C. Legislature Considers Several Troubling Bills</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/february-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/judge-rules-pa-muslim-may-not-swear-on-quran">Judge Rules Pa. Muslim May Not Swear On Quran</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/february-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/around-the-world-worldwide-atheist-persecution">Around The World: Worldwide Atheist Persecution On The Rise, Says Report</a></span> </div></li>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/war-christmas">war on christmas</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/the-satanic-temple">the Satanic Temple</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/florida">Florida</a></span></div></div>Mon, 02 Feb 2015 15:45:00 +0000Timothy Ritz10842 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/church-state/february-2015-church-state/featured/venal-vandal#commentsReligious Freedom: The Greatest Gift Of Allhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/religious-freedom-the-greatest-gift-of-all-1
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Some seem determined to force everyone to celebrate Christmas. This year, as in others, Religious Right groups spent much of December moaning about an alleged &#039;War on Christmas.&#039;</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><div><p><em>Note: This blog post is a re-publication of an item that originally appeared on Christmas Day, 2007. "The Wall of Separation" will be on hiatus until Monday, Dec. 29. Happy Holidays to all!</em></p><p>It's Christmas. Some Americans are observing this day by attending religious services, others are celebrating in a mostly secular fashion while still others aren't making note of it at all.</p><p>What could be better than to have the right to choose for yourself?</p><p>I was reminded recently that it wasn't always that way. I've been reading an <a href="https://mail.au.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=8LWKuMF7q0WPN5u5wWOvByfS3oYS1dAI0020L1raVn77Q6ZMviTkyemtO-Jt-gU21ZkhiNORWTY.&amp;URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.amazon.com%2fSalem-Witch-Judge-Repentance-Samuel%2fdp%2f0060859601%2fref%3dsr_1_1%3fie%3dUTF8%26s%3dbooks%26qid%3d1230063032%26sr%3d1-1" target="_blank"> interesting book</a> titled <em>Salem Witch Judge: The Life and Repentance of Samuel Sewall</em> by Eve LaPlante. Sewall was on the bench during the Salem Witch Trials but later was deeply sorry for his role in that fiasco. In giving the background of his times, LaPlante reminds of us of the harsh Puritan theocracy that ruled Massachusetts.</p><p>"Friday was Christmas Day, which the Sewalls were careful not to observe," LaPlante writes. "Puritans had left feast days behind in England, along with the many other features of the state church they still reproached for its 'popish injunctions,' in the words of Samuel's father-in-law."</p><p>LaPlante notes that in 1659 "in keeping with its goal of creating a Bible Commonwealth, the Massachusetts General Court banned all Christmas celebrations."</p><p>The statute read, "[B]y reason of some still observing such festivals as were superstitiously kept in other countries to the great dishonor of God and offence of others...whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas and the like, either by forbearing labor, feasting, or any other way...shall pay for every such offence, five shillings a fine."</p><p>In church that week, Sewall listened to his minister, the Rev. James Allen, remind the congregation that observing Christmas is "anti-Christian heresy."</p><p>Nearly 350 years have passed, and now we seem to have the opposite problem: Some seem determined to force everyone to celebrate Christmas. This year, as in others, Religious Right groups spent much of December moaning about an alleged "War on Christmas."</p><p>They complained because city halls and courthouses were not festooned with nativity scenes. They wailed because public school concerts included "Frosty the Snowman." They even had the temerity to whine when clerks in big-box stores said, "Happy Holidays" as they rang up purchases.</p><p>The Religious Right sought a strange thing: Instead of laboring to put more creches where they belong by nestling them among the greenery of a brightly lit and decorated church lawn, the cultural warriors of the "Christmas Police" advocated putting them on the cold, marble steps of city hall.</p><p>They did stranger things: Every year, people complain that commercialism, greed and overspending mar Christmas. The Religious Right's answer to that is to ask the business community to re-sanctify the holiday.</p><p>They sought a religious experience in a public school – the last place that can provide an authentic one. The Religious Right did this, even though hundreds of churches threw open their doors and heartily welcomed anyone seeking to connect with God for the holidays.</p><p>But worst of all, the Religious Right, having realized its groups could make money by posing as Christmas defenders, launched crude invective against anyone who dared to point out that government should not be in the business of promoting the religious aspects of the holiday. Religious Right groups sold rude buttons, stickers and other geegaws proclaiming its smug moral superiority – making a mockery of the very season of peace and goodwill it so claims to cherish.</p><p>If you celebrate Christmas, then I wish you a very merry Christmas. If you do not, I send my wishes for a good day. I'm thankful that you, I and all other Americans have the right to choose – remembering that years ago, people did not enjoy that right. They had instead a "general court" consisting of government officials who worked in conjunction with ministers to determine which mode of religious expression was right for all and pleasing to God.</p><p>It took some time for more enlightened thinkers to come along and put a stop to all of that. What they gave us – complete religious liberty resting on the wall of separation between church and state – is the greatest gift of all. And best of all, unlike an electronic gadget that breaks in a month or a sweater that doesn't quite fit, it's one we can enjoy every day of the year.</p></div><p> </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/government-sponsored-religious-displays">Government-Sponsored Religious Displays</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christmas">Christmas</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/war-christmas">war on christmas</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/eve-laplante">Eve LaPlante</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/samuel-sewall">Samuel Sewall</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/salem">salem</a></span></div></div>Thu, 25 Dec 2014 14:48:50 +0000Rob Boston10764 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/religious-freedom-the-greatest-gift-of-all-1#comments